My Great Grandfather

[gypsumvalley]

I just started leatherworking a few months ago to make holsters for our store, and my teacher has said I have picked it up very quickly. I guess it's in my blood, as my great grandfather used to have a leather repair shop in my hometown. I have a second cousin who is very talented in saddlework, and has shown some of his saddles at an art gallery in Arizona. His father (my great uncle) also was a leatherworker as well. Thought you might enjoy this photo of him in his shop in 1947.

[Denise]

Thanks for the picture, Gypsum. Is it possible to repost it in a larger size? I can see this one being studied for the detail of how things were done "back then". Very interesting.

[ryano]

Thanks for the great picture! I would also like to see it a little larger. He must have repaired a lot off shoes to have 2 sole presses. Thanks again!

[Jordan]

cool, love the old photos.

[rdb]

Me too, I'm hoping for a wee bit bigger picture. I love history, and this shows a man with a lot of work on his hands, always a good thing, and shows how respected our work was back then...and all being done with a patcher...wow? I don't see any other machines, maybe they're off in another corner.

[gypsumvalley]

I'll see if I can get a larger picture scanned, but the photo itself was small. I tried resizing it but it came out blurry. He was the only leather shop in Marion, which had about 1500 people in it at the time, so he had a lot of business.

[carr52]

Thank you for sharing that photo. Don't you just wish you could go back in time and see it first hand? Think of all you could learn.

Tom

[David]

That is a wonderful photo.

I think if I were you, I would make an effort to turn that into a business card.

Thanks for sharing a great piece of leatherworker history.

David Theobald